Dino card No. 1538 of 2,027

Rayososaurus

Say it: ray-oh-so-SORE-us

Name means: “Rayoso lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Cretaceous

Rayososaurus was a long-necked sauropod that munched on plants in what is now Argentina. It had a special shoulder blade shaped like a tennis racket, which helped scientists tell it apart from other dinosaurs.1

Lived

113 to 110 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Neuquén Province, Argentina1

Food

Plants3

Length

12 m2

Weight

9.353 tonnes1

Height

4 m2

head height

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

head height

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 6 cars

as long as 2.5 cars parked in a rowas long as 67 bananas end to endas heavy as 1.5 elephantsas heavy as 1900 watermelonsas tall as 2 doors stacked up

How big was Rayososaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Rayososaurus lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 111 to 106 million years ago.1

The only known fossils of Rayososaurus are two partial shoulder blades, most of the left thigh bone, and the top half of the left shin bone.1

Rayososaurus was named by Argentine paleontologist José Bonaparte in 1996.1

The dinosaur's name comes from the Rayoso Formation, where scientists first thought the fossils were found.1

Rayososaurus is a member of the Rebbachisauridae family, a group of sauropods with distinctive shoulder blades.1

Some scientists once thought that another dinosaur, Limaysaurus tessonei, belonged to Rayososaurus, but later studies showed it was a different genus.1

AI-made picture of Rayososaurus — An AI-made picture of how Rayososaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Rayososaurus

?How big was Rayososaurus?

Rayososaurus was a medium sized sauropod, with a body mass estimated at about 9,353 kilograms (20,620 pounds).1

?What did Rayososaurus eat?

Rayososaurus was a plant-eater, like all sauropods.1

?When did Rayososaurus live?

Rayososaurus lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 111 to 106 million years ago.1

?Where was Rayososaurus found?

Rayososaurus fossils were found in Neuquén Province, Argentina.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Rayososaurus
Named by: Bonaparte 19963
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Rebbachisauridae3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Diplodocoidea3
Age of the rocks: 113 to 110 million years (Albian)3
Rock formations: Candeleros3
Countries: Argentina3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: The only known specimen of Rayososaurus was discovered in 1991 by a team led by José Bonaparte, three kilometers south of Agrio del Medio in Argentina. Bonaparte named it Rayososaurus agrioensis in 1996.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure about the exact size of Rayososaurus because only a few bones have been found.1

Where the facts come from

Rayososaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Rayososaurus agrionensis (es.wikipedia.org)
Rayososaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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